Blue Hen, Builder, Champion Off the Ice
Richard Roux arrived at the University of Delaware in the fall of 1978 and immediately did what great players do. He scored. In his freshman season, he led the team with 36 goals in 32 games, including a four-goal performance against arch rival Penn State in the MACHC league championship. That is not a quiet arrival. That is a statement.
He led the team in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons, was selected to the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Conference All-Star team after leading the league in scoring both years, and served as team captain his senior year. He set the all-time MACHC record for points in a season, putting up 36 points in 12 league games. Ninety games played as a Blue Hen. Ninety-one goals. One hundred sixty-seven points. Numbers that hold up.
He did not walk away from the program after graduation. He stayed on as an assistant coach, was named head coach in 1984, and over five seasons compiled a career record of 67-56-7. He led the Blue Hens to their first national tournament invitation, held in Huntsville, Alabama. He is a member of the Delaware Hockey Hall of Fame. That part was already settled.
What was not yet settled was the future of the program itself. That is where Roux went back to work.
In January 2015, he joined forces with a small group of alumni to create the UD Hockey Alumni Association. No fanfare. No committee telling him to do it. Just a former Blue Hen who understood that programs do not sustain themselves, and that someone had to care enough to start.
He has been caring ever since.
As Vice President of the UDHAA, Roux has connected with hundreds of alumni and led the push to establish an endowed fund for the program. He organizes Hockey Alumni Weekend every year. He built a system to recognize consistent donors and engaged alumni because he knows that recognition matters, that people give more when they feel seen. He has helped at practices, evaluated tryouts, and sat down with current players to talk about what it takes to run a club the right way.
That is not one thing. That is everything.
Outside of Delaware, Roux founded the Open Net Ice Hockey Tournament in 2000 to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. He has served as President of the Open Net Foundation since 2008. He is a managing partner at Info Solutions, A CCS Brand, and has helped grow one of the top IT service companies in the Mid-Atlantic.
Hockey people are builders. They compete, they lead, and when the skates come off for the last time, the good ones find another way to serve the game. Richard Roux is proof.
He will be recognized alongside fellow Outstanding Alumni Award recipient Debra Eskra, Class of 1996, and the 2026 UDAA Warner and Taylor Award winners during Alumni Weekend festivities.
